Why Does Poetry Matter

One of the themes in our class the whole year was the question of does poetry matter, and if so why does it matter. Poetry provides answers to these questions through its link with mental disorders and its use as a tool to be used in therapeutic settings to help healing to occur. Poetry over other forms of communication lends itself to this use by having the ability to leave things unsaid in order to be an effective therapeutic device for those who have experienced trauma. Poetry can make it easier for an individual to cope with a traumatic incident by providing them a medium to express their emotions and ideas. Poems can be simple and are able to, unlike other forms of communication, convey meaning in a very little amount of words. Particularly

Poetry separates itself from other styles of narrative through its ability to use that which is left unsaid. Metaphor, and simile both are major poetic tools and are effective because their implicit connections. The implicit aspects of poetry provide a creative space that the writer can explore and find ways of divulging meaning without having to include and exorbitant amount of detail. In this, poetry helps the writer communicate while allowing some creative room to leave out painful details or get a point across without having to explicitly state it. without it being necessary to include all of the specific characteristics or identifiers of the writer. bring out each individual’s own creativity while experiencing the piece without having to explicitly tell the observer to imagine their own defining

Poetry in my anthology included songs and rap which by my definition are included as pieces of poetry. The therapeutic aspects of music have been well documented and, “Historically, music therapy has been an effective approach that has often been used with youth (Luce, 2004; Chase, 2003). Music evokes emotion via a non-threatening medium, which facilitates the therapy process (Luce, 2004; Tyson, 2003)” (Allen 31). Part of the reason poetry works well in aiding the expression of emotions is because poetry has the connotation of being solely about emotions and to some that turns them off of poetry. For youth who are struggling to express themselves or deal with their emotions, writing and analyzing poetry makes it alright to talk about feelings because it is expected and not ridiculed in the poetic setting. The comfort level of these kids is imperative for the therapeutic process as it will most likely open them up to facing and managing emotions brought on by traumatic events. Introducing poetry in a form children are comfortable with can be seen with musical therapy where, “Analyzing the Hip-Hop music lyrics engages participants, stimulates discussion, and promotes the examination of life issues, struggles, and experiences in a way that participants experience as relevant to their own lives” (Allen